It’s not that successful people are givers; it is that givers are successful people. – Patti Thor
I was up early Friday morning to monitor news about the massive earthquake that hit Japan. An 8.9-magnitude earthquake followed by a 35-foot tsunami hit the coast of Japan at 2:46 p.m. Tokyo time Friday. It was the most powerful recorded in the Japan’s history, and the seventh largest ever recorded worldwide. The tsunami warning was issued in virtually all areas of the Pacific Rim. Also, I was closely monitoring news about the effect of the tsunami back home in the Philippines through local news outlet Inquirer. The Philippine government ordered the country’s mostly rural Pacific seaboard cleared of people on Friday. Inquirer reported that 224,243 people were moved off the coasts overnight, either on their own or using military trucks.
Web and Social Media Resources at Work
Beyond Twitter traffic and Facebook, many media organizations like CNN are live-blogging information as it comes in. Click here to access CNN live blog. Government agencies are also providing valuable information on their sites. Citizens have also taken to Flickr to post pictures of the disaster.
I also followed real-time updates from Twitter where thousands of tweets per minute came in. Most can be filtered using two primary hashtags — #tsunami and #prayforjapan. They are trending on Twitter since Friday. (Click on the hashtags to view real-time twitter feed.)
Shortly Google deployed People Finder tool that was so effective during the 2004 Tsunami and 2010 Haiti Earthquake:
“Google Person Finder available after earthquake in Japan to help you get information about loved ones. http://goo.gl/rlR07” – @Google >> (Twitter)
If you are looking for first-person accounts, a lot of residents from affected areas have also posted eyewitness videos in Youtube from inside their homes and public buildings, and from the streets with their neighbors. Click here to see videos posted in Youtube pertaining to the earthquake and tsunami.
How you can help:
- Donate to the Japanese Red Cross Society through Google Crisis Response website. Donations are accepted in Japanese Yen only. ($20 is approximately 1600 yen) Your donation must be at least 100 yen, up to 25,000 yen.
- “Txt REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation to #Japan eq & Pacific #tsunami relief. http://bit.ly/eZJDoJ” – @redcross American Red Cross
- The Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund was launched at GlobalGiving.org to garner funds that will be given to a variety of relief organizations helping victims of the earthquake. It has already raised over $800,000, particularly from concerned Twitter users around the world.
- Save the Children: Emergency Relief for Japan Quake www.savethechildren.org/japanquake Toll free: 800-728-3843 Text JAPAN or 20222 to donate.
- Salvation Army donate.salvationarmyusa.org, Toll free: 800-SAL-ARMY, Text QUAKE or 80888 to donate $10
Thanks for helping out.– @GlennRemoreras
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